The trend toward increased computerization in Canadian hospitals has profound implications for hospital employed nurses, the majority of whom are educated in community college nursing programs. Educators, in response to this trend, must be attentive to the quality of student learning when planning for computer content in nursing curricula. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify how student nurses, enrolled in a community college nursing program, conceptualize the impact of computer use on hospital employed nurses. Students' conceptions were analyzed in relation to their: (a) attitude toward computers, and (b) length of clinical experience. Thirty-five (11 first-year, 11 second-year and 13 third-year) students enrolled in the nursing program at Cariboo College in Kamloops, British Columbia, were interviewed. Three broad, and ten forced-response, questions generated both qualitative and quantitative data, which were reported as primary and secondary findings. Data analysis, through use of the constant comparative method, was carried out on a formative and summative basis. Findings indicated that subjects had little awareness of computer use by nurses today. Their knowledge of how computers may be used by nurses in the future was also limited, and appeared to center around three broad areas: nursing, communication, and administration. Subjects conceptions of the impact of computer use on hospital employed nurses fell into four categories: (a) nursing image, (b) professionalism, (c) patient care, and (d) workload. Their comments on these four categories were further classified into three: sub-categories, indicating whether they felt that the increased use of computers would: (a) enhance, (b) detract from or (c) both enhance and detract from, each category. It was found that subjects' conceptions differed in complexity in direct proportion to the year in which they were enrolled in the program and also the length of their clinical experience. The majority of subjects had positive attitudes toward computer use. In addition, it was found that there was a significant relationship between complexity of conception and attitude. Students enter nursing programs with established conceptions and attitudes. The goal in planning computer programs must be to sequence computer content through the use of a taxonomy of learning outcomes, so that quality of learning is a priority, and positive attitudes are fostered. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Computerization is changing how hospitals do business as well as how nursing is practiced. Use of computer applications depends on the attitudes and motivation nurses have about computers.The purpose of this replication study is to examine relationships between nurses' attitudes toward computer use satisfaction, beliefs, and motivation. This study used an adaptation of Vroom's expectancy theory as a framework to identify and relate nurses' attitudes and identify variables that may relate with computer use.An instrument developed by Burkes (1991), the Nurses' Computer Use Attitude Questionnaire was used to measure nurses' attitudes toward computer usage. This includes satisfaction, beliefs, and motivation.The convenience sample included 101 (67%) nurses from three rural hospitals who agreed to participate in the study. Confidentiality was maintained, and only group data was reported.Findings in this study support Vroom's theory that there is a relationship between beliefs and motivation, between satisfaction and motivation, and between beliefs and motivation. Findings in this study were the longer the nurses duration of computer experience the more satisfied they were with using them. Age and level of nursing experience did not determine satisfaction, beliefs or motivation to use computer applications. Conclusions from this study were that knowledge levels can vary in regard to use. In this study the Beliefs subscale accounted for 46% of the variance in predicating motivation. Therefore what one comes to expect or believe will be a factor in how much effort is put into behavior changes.Further research should try to determine what if any demographic information is consistently a predictor of attitudes scores. This information could be helpful in enhancing the chances for successful implementation and utilization of computers. There should also be research in the variables that impact attitudes of nurses toward utilization of computers.This study is significant because findings will provide information about attitudes and usage of computers in rural hospitals. If attitudes are recognized, attitudes can be improved and better utilization will follow. / School of Nursing

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree in Masters of Technology in Nursing, Department of Nursing, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Background In response to the advances made in information technology (IT), many healthcare institutions worldwide have integrated IT into their healthcare systems. Some hospitals in South Africa have changed to a computer- based system for the delivery of nursing care and nursing documentation, whereas others still use a paper-based system. The main aim of introducing IT in nursing is to improve the quality of nursing care. Research has shown, however, that IT can negatively impact on the quality of nursing care rather than improve it. This study compared the delivery of nursing care in two public hospitals in the eThekwini district in KwaZulu-Natal: one hospital which uses a computer-based documentation system for patient care and one hospital which uses a paper-based documentation system. Aim of the study The aim of the study is to determine the effects of IT on the delivery of nursing care as experienced by registered and enrolled nurses working in the hospital setting. Methodology A quantitative comparative descriptive design was used in this study. The delivery of nursing care in a hospital which uses a computer-based documentation system for patient care was compared with a hospital which uses a paper-based documentation system. The participants in this study were registered and enrolled nurses working in the wards and units of the two selected hospitals. Data was collected through the administration of a questionnaire (Appendix G) directed at the registered and enrolled nurses in the two hospitals involved in the study. One hundred percent of registered and enrolled nurses in the two selected hospitals at the time of data collection were approached and invited to participate in the study. One hundred and four participants for the hospital which uses a computer-based documentation system and 104 participants for the hospital which uses a paper-based documentation system were willing to participate in the study. Data was summarised and described using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, measures of central tendency such as means and modes, as well as means of variability such as range, variance and standard deviation. Graphs and tables were used to graphically represent the data. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22. Findings The effects of IT on the delivery of nursing care was measured by the quality of nursing documentation, the amount of time nurses have available for hands-on patient care and the reduction of medication errors. This study revealed that IT positively affected the experiences of nurses with the delivery of nursing care, with only a few exceptions. Information technology did not decrease the use of unauthorised abbreviations. It also did not improve the time nursing care was rendered being reflected in nursing documentation. Errors being made when entering patient data from, for example, cardiac monitors, intravenous pumps or results to investigations into the patient’s record were not decreased by IT. Furthermore, IT failed to improve nurses being alerted to drug interactions and to contra-indications of prescribed medications. There were a few instances where IT had a negative effect on the delivery of nursing care. Information technology increased the need to copy the same data when creating and updating a nursing care plan as well as documenting nursing care. Although the need for taking telephonic orders was reduced through the use of IT, it was found that when nurses in the hospital with a computer-based documentation system took telephonic orders, errors were made more often than when nurses in the hospital with a paper-based documentation system took telephonic orders. / M

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012. / Home-Based Healthcare (HBHC) is an important aspect of South Africa's healthcare system. HBHC is the provision of care services to patients by trained or semi-trained caregivers at home. In South Africa HBHC was introduced in 2001 to address many problems with traditional healthcare such as overcrowding in public health facilities. South Africa has one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world, which is often accompanied by opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. HBHC is envisaged to address these challenges, thus relieving the burden on primary healthcare. HBHC is itself faced with many problems which include poor information or data management, unclear information flows, and insufficient information storage. It is also not clear how caregivers use data elements and there is no coherent indigenous knowledge base for the capturing, implementation and utilisation of data elements in local HBHC providers. This is particularly important to caregivers who rely on frameworks of indigenous knowledge in interpreting and making decisions on how to provide a care service to patients. In reality, caregivers operate in indigenous environments requiring the utilisation of local knowledge. This study explores the relationships between, and approaches to, data elements in different HBHC providers and communities. Three interpretive case studies in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa were conducted. Semistructured interviews, focus groups, participant observation and document analysis were used for data collection. The primary research question was: What happens when caregivers from various communities interact with data elements when providing a care service? Caregivers' indigenous knowledge and use of data elements was then harnessed in a knowledge base. The results from this study can be used by HBHC managers to develop their forms and training materials as the initial set of data elements used in HBHC has been identified. Caregivers from different communities can also learn how these data elements are used in other communities.

In an age of scarce resources and health care reform, it is important that computerized health care information systems be used effectively. The efficiency and effectiveness of computer applications in hospitals depends on the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and motivation nurses have about use of computers. The purpose of this correlational study is to examine relationships among nurses' attitudes toward computer use with knowledge, satisfaction, beliefs, motivation, and individual characteristics. The study was a modified replication study (Burkes, 1991) using Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory as a framework. Burkes (1991) developed the instrument used in this study to measure nurses' attitudes toward computer usage knowledge, satisfaction, beliefs, and motivation. Demographic data will also be collected.The convenience sample included 66 nurses from one Midwestern Indiana hospital who agreed to participate in this study. Confidentiality was maintained and only group data was reported. Participation was anonymous and voluntary.Findings in this study support Vroom's theory that there is a relationship between beliefs and motivation, between satisfaction and motivation, and between beliefs and motivation. Age, level of nursing experience and level of education did not determine satisfaction, beliefs or motivation to use computer applications. Conclusions from this study were that knowledge levels can vary in regard to use. However, computer knowledge did increase computer-use beliefs. The study indicated the amount of knowledge may increase beliefs and effect computer use attitudes.Further research should try to determine if any demographic information is consistently a predictor of attitudes scores. This information could be helpful in enhancing a successful implementation and utilization of computer systems. There should be research in the variables that impact attitudes of nurses toward utilization of computers.This study is significant because findings will provide information about attitudes and usage of computers in areas of nursing practices. Benefits include increased information about nurses' attitudes regarding computers and variables that may relate to computer use. The usefulness of measuring beliefs, satisfaction and motivation has a practical value in assessment of attitudes to assist educators and organization to meet nurses' needs in settings where computerized nursing programs are utilized. This information may be used in developing teaching strategies for nurses' use of computers in these settings. / School of Nursing

There has been an increase in the use of information technology in the hospital environment over the past decade and the use of computers by Nursing Managers is rapidly increasing. The latter poses a challenge to Nurse Managers, as their computer literacy status is unknown. This is evident from the fact that prior to 1996 there was only four computers at one of the private hospitals used in this study. Computer skills were never a requirement when applying for the position of Nurse Manager; and there is still currently no formal computer training provided for Nurse Managers or Acting Nurse Managers. Resources are however available in the hospitals to assist the managers with various computer problems but it is not known if these resources equip managers with the appropriate tools to become efficient in their role. The lack of formal training and lack of assessment of resources to determine whether the computer needs of Nurse Managers are met results in a lot of time being wasted and many frustrations experienced among Nurse Managers. The researcher was therefore motivated by the latter problem to explore and describe the computer literacy status of Nurse Managers in order to make recommendations to management regarding the research findings. The researcher selected a quantitative, explorative, contextual and descriptive survey design. The research population was made up of all Nurse Managers and Acting Nurse Managers at the time of the study. A 100 percent sample was utilised and comprised thirty-four respondents who made up the entire group of Nurse Managers and Acting Nurse Managers at the time of the study. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used in Phase One of the research and in Phase Two a data observation sheet was used to test the respondents and to collect the necessary data. This data was manually processed and analysed by the iii researcher. All ethical considerations were honoured throughout the research process. The main findings of the research study reflected that the respondents had a below average ability to use various software packages such as Microsoft Word, EXCEL and Power Point. Findings further revealed that the respondent’s literacy levels were average with regard to the use of peripheral components of the computer such as the use of the mouse and keyboard. The respondents rated their competency level as average with regard to using a computer. Due to the limitations and small sample size used in the study the researcher recommends that further research using a larger sample by expanding the research into the other private hospitals in the group through out South Africa should take place in order to produce more constructive results than this study.

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